Rovman Powell steals the show as West Indies beat England in third T20
West Indies beat England by 20 runs in high-scoring third T20 international with Rovman Powell hitting a terrific century in Barbados – as hosts take a 2-1 lead in best-of-five series
- West Indies set a humungous target of 225 after a stellar batting innings
- Rovman Powell hit a sensational century while Nicholas Pooran scored 70
- Tom Banton hit 73 for England but the tourists in the end came up 20 runs short
- West Indies are now 2-1 up in the best-of-five T20 series taking place in Barbados
On a night when England rang the changes, it was a selection call by West Indies that proved decisive.
Rovman Powell’s barnstorming entrance to the series saw him crunch West Indies’ third fastest Twenty20 hundred, from just 51 balls. Unsurprisingly, the other two belong to Chris Gayle.
His innings of 107 fuelled a total of 224 for five — only four times have England conceded more — and a side missing A-listers could not compete with the firepower, losing by 20 runs, despite Tom Banton’s six-laden T20 international-best of 73 and a 22-ball 50 by new cap Phil Salt.
Rovman Powell hit a sensational century as West Indies beat England in the third T20I
The West Indies batsman smashed 107 runs off 53 balls to entertain the crowd in Barbados
Powell was ably supported by Nicholas Pooran, who hit 70 off 43 balls at the Kensington Oval
Tom Banton was England’s leading light with the bat but was caught in the deep for 73
Aside from Banton, the hosts knocked off England’s top-order for low scored under the lights
Not only were the tourists missing their multi-format players but also captain Eoin Morgan, with a quad muscle injury suffered in the warm-up, and Sam Billings, prescribed a rest following last week’s global gallivanting.
In all, there were five alterations to the XI that levelled things at 1-1 on Sunday.
Moeen Ali wore the armband for the second time and, by the midpoint of a match delayed 20 minutes by rain, the result was heading the same way as his first against Australia in 2020, as English attempts to plug their leaky attack with a trio of left-armers failed.
The reaction to West Indies crashing 59 runs from the final three overs, in a narrow defeat to a single run on Sunday, was to draft in George Garton, one of three debutants, and Tymal Mills.
But the Sussex pair returned combined figures of 8-0-109-2. Only the exceptional Adil Rashid and Reece Topley were spared another pounding.
Powell took the applause of the Kensington Oval crowd after his first T20I century
Phil Salt was the pick of the lower-order batsmen, hitting 57 off 24 on his T20I debut
Moeen Ali stood in as captain for Eoin Morgan but could not lead his team to victory
It took just two balls for Liam Livingstone to make his mark on his return from illness when Shai Hope got into a muddle against a leg-spinner but that wicket and Garton’s dismissal of Brandon King during his first over in an England shirt simply invited Powell to form an electrifying 132-run stand with Nicholas Pooran, who had provided impetus with 70 off 43.
Powell launched his second delivery over square leg into the Kensington Oval’s party stand. It was one of his 10 sixes.
Moments after celebrating his hundred with a whirl of the bat and a kiss of the badge on his helmet, it was revealed that he had not make the Windies squad for the one-day tour to India next month.
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